Potted trees

This is the top of my potted pine tree.  In all of its twenty-seven years in a pot it has been repotted about five times.  Now I merely add compost to the pot, which could be less than 40 cm in diameter.  The tree was less than a foot high when I dug it out from a friend's property.  My youngest was about five months old then so I can always tell the age of the tree.  It could possibly be over seven feet in height and the trunk is secured to prevent it from falling over.  When it was possible to bring it into the house the tree was decorated for Christmas.

You can barely see the trunk of the pine tree, merging into the ficus covering the brick wall.

This fan-leafed palm is even older than the pine tree.  The last time it was repotted was in the summer of 2008, not long after I moved into this property.  It is growing every year and I do nothing to it except water it in summer.  It is a pretty sight from my kitchen window.

harvesting choko

This choko is ready for picking.  I pick it before it is too mature like the ones you get in the shop.  The seed is still tender and is sliced with the fruit for cooking.  I will leave a couple to grow till the seed leaves emerge from the end of the fruit, to grow new vine.

A few young chokos amongst the leaves.  They will be ready in a couple of weeks.

Delicate shoots to be picked for vegetable and in doing so encourage new shoots to sprout.